By Kiyoshi Takenaka & Issei Kato

July 12, 2018 — 7.16pm

Talking points

Scorching heat, lack of water raises disease fears

Death toll hits 200, dozens still missing

More than 200,000 households without water

Kurashiki: Japan risks more severe weather and must find ways to alleviate disasters, a government spokesman said on Thursday, as intense heat and water shortages raised fear of disease among survivors of its worst weather disaster in 36 years.

Torrential rain that struck western Japan a week ago caused floods and landslides, killing 200 people, many in communities that have existed for decades on mountain slopes and flood plains largely untroubled by storms.

But severe weather has been battering the country more regularly in recent years, raising questions about the impact of global warming. Dozens of people were killed in a similar disaster last year.

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"It's an undeniable fact that this sort of disaster due to torrential, unprecedented rain is becoming more frequent in recent years," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference in Tokyo.

Saving lives was the government's biggest duty, he said.

"We recognise that there's a need to look into steps we can take to reduce the damage from disasters like this even a little bit," he said.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe listens to an evacuee during a visit to an evacuation center in Kurashiki.Credit:Kyodo News via AP

He did not elaborate on what steps the government could take.

More than 200,000 households had no water a week after disaster struck and many thousands of people were homeless.

With temperatures ranging from 31 to 34 degrees celsius and high humidity, life in school gymnasiums and other evacuation centres, where families spread out on mats on the floors, began to take a toll.

Television footage showed one elderly woman trying to sleep by kneeling across a folding chair, arms over her eyes to keep out the light.

It's an undeniable fact that this sort of disaster due to torrential, unprecedented rain is becoming more frequent in recent years

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga

With few portable fans in evacuation centres, many survivors waved paper fans to keep cool.

Tight water supplies meant that people were not getting enough fluids and in danger of suffering from heat-stroke, authorities said.